Wartale: The Second War Between Humans and Monsters
by Thaliaislife
Summary: Chara couldn't decide what was worse, the sound of bombs going off, or the sound of a thousand guns going off all at once. Either way the noise rattled them to the core. They peeked up from their hole, gripping their rifle like it was a life line. Bombs blew, guns fired, the ground was trembling beneath their feet and the air was raining dust. Chara shivered, dust. Charisk
1. Welcome to your death

**Quick Shoutout to Hawker-Rawr on Tumblr for coming up with the Wartale au and so many other things, please go check them out. -M**

Chara couldn't decide what was worse, the sound of bombs going off, or the sound of a thousand guns going off all at once. Either way the noise rattled them to the core. They peeked up from their hole, gripping their rifle like it was a life line. Bombs blew, guns fired, the ground was trembling beneath their feet and the air was raining dust. Chara shivered, dust. Why did there have to be so much dust.

"Fall back!" they heard a familiar voice shout above the gun fire. All around them, their fellow combatants ran for cover, but Chara still stood there, holding onto the gun tighter. Peeking over the mound of dirt they were beginning to call home, they fired off a couple rounds. They fell like dominoes. Chara decided that killing humans was much more satisfying than killing monsters. With humans they left behind carnage, like a warning sign to other Humans, with monsters it was harder to tell if it was monster dust, or gun powder.

"Dreemur! Did you not hear me?! I said fall back!" the voice shouted again, but Chara ignored it. Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen. The numbers got higher as more of their bullets found their marks.

"Dreemur!" the voice screamed, but it was too late. A grenade fell beside Chara's boots, and before they could say "Fuck," it exploded.

Chara doubted they had ever felt such pain, their entire left side felt like it was on fire, and the battle sounded like it was under water. Why? Why was this stupid war even happening? Where had it all gone wrong? Well, Chara couldn't answer that question, they weren't alive roughly two-thousand years ago, but they did know why the second war had begun, and it still made their chest hurt.

Two years ago

"Chara, why did you climb the mountain?" Asriel asked from his spot, perching on one of the Ruins' pillars. Chara stared numbly at a wall opposite them. The little sunlight that made it down to this section of the ruins was illuminating the two siblings, as different as they were. Asriel was some sort of humanoid goat creature, with fur as white as snow, and eyes the color of oak. He had soft features, and a natural, friendly smile. Chara, on the other hand, was human, with messy chestnut hair that only made it down to their shoulders, the ends uneven and ragged. Their eyes weren't quite as human as the rest of the child. They glowed an unearthly shade of crimson, like sunlight through blood. Chara's skin was naturally pale, except for their face, which was flushed in an eternal blush, as if someone had just said something embarrassing to the child. Despite the physical difference, someone watching would've known they were siblings. Matching sweaters of green and yellow, along with a certain aura of kinship that surrounded the pair.

"Why does anyone jump into strange holes that show no bottom or way back up?" Chara questioned and Asriel just gave them a confused look. Sighing, the older child answered their own question, "To disappear Azzy." The air hung quiet for a few moments.

"But, why?" Asriel asked again, and Chara sighed.

"The humans up there, they're not kind. They hated me, Asriel. That's all that humans know how to do, is to hate. They hated the monsters, and once the monsters were gone and they didn't have them to blame anymore, they hated each other. Humans just destroy thoughtlessly, and then move onto their next victim, and that doesn't exclude anyone or anything." they told their younger brother. Asriel stared thoughtfully at the hole in the ceiling that allowed sunlight to flow down to the earth.

"I don't think all humans are that bad," he muttered and turned to look at Chara, "I mean, you're not like that, so there has to be some good humans, right?" he smiled. Chara laughed quietly, finding their brother's train of thought ridiculous. Could he not see that Chara was the worst of all? Then again, he was a few years younger, perhaps humouring him would be a good idea?

"Maybe you're right Asriel, but that doesn't change the fact that the ones I knew were evil, and would rather see me dead then see me at all." Chara mumbled, suddenly standing.

"Chara-" Asriel began, but Chara held up their hands.'

"Shhhh!" they hissed. There it was again, the ceiling shook, rocks and soil tumbling loose from the cavern. Chara stared at the blank white canvas that prevented them from seeing the sky, but still let sunlight in, and watched as cracks began to form in it. The barrier burst into nothingness, and gunfire exploded into the clearing the siblings stood.

"Run!" Chara yelled, grabbing Asriel and shoving him down the tunnels that led to Home, ignoring the bullets that tore into their back as they ran.

Chara's eyes snapped open, they didn't even remember falling asleep, but now found themselves somewhere completely unrecognizable. They appeared to be in a tent made of plain white cloth, which was weird because the Monster's tent's were all regulation Purple. The tent was complete darkness except for the lantern burning on a table next to the cot that Chara lay on, again, that was weird since Monsters didn't have lanterns, they much preferred fire magic. Chara tried to blink away the blurriness of their vision, and more of their situation came into focus.

Their left arm was in a sling, and their legs were both wrapped tightly in bandages. They had a suspicion that there were bandages on their head too, but there was no way for them to be sure. Another thing that worried Chara, bandages. Monsters did not bandage wounds, they instead healed them with healing magic in mere minutes, but here they lay, wrapped up like they'd just had a visit from Muffett. Also, the silence. In the monster camp it was never silent, someone, something was always moving, talking, laughing. Even on the darkest of nights, someone was having a party, Chara admired the Monster's ability to keep up hope. However, here it was dead silent except for the ringing in Chara's ears. Suddenly they heard shifting from the front of the tent and nearly had a heart attack when they saw who entered. Not who, what entered. A human.


	2. I'm just a kid, and life is a nightmare

Frisk had seen their share of weird things. A skeleton flying an airplane, a frog with eyes on it's stomach, A man who had his hands surgically attached to his eyebrows, but this had to be one of the weirdest. A human who wore the crest of the Monster's army, and had glowing red eyes. Admittedly that second one wasn't really that weird, but more on that later. Frisk stared down at the soldier they had pulled from the wreckage of the battlefield. All around them other medics were looking over the wounded, but none of the other humans had the delta rune on their clothes. None of them looked like they'd sat on a landmine either, but Frisk was working on that. Carefully, they carried the unconscious soldier back to their tent and finished pulling shrapnel out of the soldier's legs.

Two more things they noticed, the soldier couldn't have been any older than 16, and appeared to be a highly decorated officer, but none of the medals on the soldier's coat were recognizable to Frisk. The soldier groaned and rolled over, exposing their arm which appeared badly broken. Frisk quickly set the bones and bandaged the wound, another curious thing, the human's skin was pale, like they hadn't seen sunlight in a long time. Frisk frowned, who was this teen?

"Frisk!" a voice called and Frisk carefully made their way out of the tent, towards the voice. A man with broad shoulders and a gun thrown over his back stood there.

"Yes, sir?" the medic asked, their short hair falling into their already closed eyes, old habits die hard. You keep your eyes closed as a kid to avoid teasing, you get so used to it that you no longer need them open to know where everything is. At least, that was Frisk's experience.

"The other medics are heading north after the army, are you continuing with the others?" he asked and Frisk shook their head.

"I've got a soldier here in critical condition, I need to stay and look after them," they lied, in truth, they were just curious about this unknown soldier, and wanted to know why they wore the emblem of the Monster's Royal family.

"Understood," the man said and moved onto the next medic tent, Frisk crept back into their own, only to come face to face with the soldier they had found, now awake. Their eyes glowed in the darkness of the tent, a bright, unearthly red that reminded Frisk of fire. They blinked and stared at the soldier, as the soldier stared back, then opened their mouth.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA-" the soldier let out a scream and Frisk launched themselves forward on instinct, clamping a hand over their mouth and muffling the scream. The soldier thrashed in their grip, trying desperately to get free, but Frisk held on. After a few minutes of wrestling the soldier gave up, perhaps out of exasperation, or maybe because of the fact they still had a broken arm and head wound. Either way, they calmed and Frisk carefully let the soldier go.

"Okay, I understand that probably wasn't the best start," Frisk mumbled quietly and brushed themselves off, and started looking over the soldier's bandages to make sure they hadn't reopened a wound.

"Who the hell are you?!" the soldier exclaimed, pulling themselves away from Frisk, who blinked in response.

"Sorry, Frisk, medic assigned to faucet five, league twelve." they said and looked up at their mystery soldier who had suddenly gotten a shade paler.

"Did you just say faucet five, league twelve?" they asked and Frisk nodded. They sucked in a breath.

"I gotta get out of here, now." they tried to stand and Frisk caught them as their legs gave out.

"Not so fast, you're too badly injured to go anywhere, and you're bleeding is only going to get worse if you keep moving around so fast," Frisk said and set the soldier down on the bed, now having a pretty good Idea of who, or rather what, they had in their tent. The soldier was holding their side in pain.

"Ow.." they groaned and Frisk huffed in exasperation.

"I warned you," Frisk whispered and the soldier just groaned again. "So what's your name, mystery soldier?" they asked as they began to undo the bandages around the wound.

"Why do you want to know?" the soldier huffed, glaring at Frisk with eyes that practically oozed hostility, but Frisk just chose to ignore it.

"Because I'd like to know the name of the super hot person I'm currently bandaging who appears to actually have a conscience unlike the other people I live with," they muttered nonchalantly and pretended not to notice when the soldier's cheeks lit up.

"My name is Chara, and what was that about having a conscience?" they asked and Frisk started to clean the wound that had began bleeding again.

"Your uniform, that's not the uniform of a Human soldier, it's the uniform of a monster soldier. You're wearing the crest of the Monster's royal family, and as soon as you saw me you screamed like I was something from your worst nightmare. All signs pointing to, you aren't on the human's side. You're on the Monster's." Frisk answered and started to bind Chara's wound again. The teen blinked, confusion in their eyes.

"You got all that from me screaming and wearing a different uniform? For all you know I could've been a spy," they protested, but Frisk shook their head.

"A spy wouldn't have skin as pale as yours, which leads to you living underground for a certain amount of years," Frisk finished the bandages and sat back on their ankles, keeping eye contact with the strange soldier.

"Okay, fine you got me, I'm on the monster's side, and you're not going to kill me?" Chara asked in utter confusion. They looked almost disappointed, like they'd been looking forward to the awful things that humans did to monsters they captured. Frisk shuddered just thinking about it.

"Me? No. Now, if someone else had found you, probably, but I'm not really that kind of person. Honestly I think this whole 'war with the monsters' thing is bonkers." they answered and they were just met with blank red eyes.

"Then why are you fighting it?" they asked and Frisk snorted.

"Getting straight into the personal questions are we?" they teased before letting their face fall into it's natural emotionless stare, "I didn't want to, but then I got drafted. When you're drafted you have no other choice, but to fight, lest you pay the consequences. Luckily for me, I managed to join the medical force so I don't have to actually fight anyone, but it's still not right…" Frisk trailed off. Screams echoed in their head, they remembered how many battle fields they had marched across, and how many times they had heard the screaming of monsters who had done nothing wrong, as they marched to their deaths. Frisk's eyes, already closed, clenched. Thinking about it only made the sounds worse.

"That's stupid," Chara muttered facing the wall.

"Well I didn't make the laws," Frisk responded and the other teen sighed.

"Humans are stupid," they mumbled and Frisk rose an eyebrow.

"Careful, because if my knowledge of human and monster anatomy is correct you're a human too," they scolded, but Chara just bowed their head.

"Exactly," they responded and Frisk frowned. That response sounded too much like something they would've said before the war. Before they stopped looking at themselves for criticism and just accepted the fact that they weren't ever going to be perfect. That scared Frisk for some reason.

"Awe come on, you aren't stupid," Frisk said and shoved the teen lightly, but was only met with empty red eyes.

"You don't know who I am or what I've done. I'm just as bad as every human, if not worse," they said in a voice devoid of emotion. Frisk felt like they were arguing with a younger version of themself, despite the fact that Chara was probably older than them. Frisk grit their teeth.

"I know you have to be a good person in order to care about the monsters enough to fight an die for them. No one, no human would put on that uniform and fight for the monsters of their own free will. None," Frisk argued and Chara knit their eyebrows.

"Why are you playing guidance counselor? I'm just some stupid soldier you found who is for the other team! Shouldn't you be, I don't know, trying to kill me?!" Frisk sighed and shook their head.

"I don't know what your experiences with humans are, but we aren't all bloodthirsty killers. Some of us just want to go home, but then remember they remember they don't have a home," Frisk answered and pulled out their bag.

Chara looked confused, as if they had been expecting a pond, only to find the whole ocean. They were staring at frisk as if they were some strange creature from another planet. Finally they muttered, "You sound like Asriel,"

"Who's Asriel?" Frisk asked and Chara clammed up, turning to face the wall, but not even attempting to get up, too weak perhaps. Frisk sighed.

"Really? The cold shoulder, how old are you, five?" they asked, but Chara did not respond. Frisk rolled their eyes behind their eyelids and rummaged around in their bag. "Okay look, normally I only give this out if we have an extremely traumatized patient, but you look like you're going to throttle me, so let's take this as a peace offering, shall we?" Frisk produced a chocolate bar from their bag and held it out to Chara. Chara stared at the candy for about five seconds before snatching it out of Frisk's hands and hugging it close as if it were some kind of baby.

"Where did you get this?" they asked, and just like that the hard exterior was gone, replaced with some kind of childlike excitement and a look like they held all of the stars in their eyes. Frisk had to swallow a tinge of guilt, that look reminded them too much of an old friend of theirs.

"Bought it a couple towns back. I have more if you-" Chara's face split into a giant childlike grin that made Frisk's heart melt. Oh god what was this kid doing to them?! They'd barely known them for twenty minutes and already they felt like they would give the world to see them smile like that again.

"Please!" The teen begged. Begged? What the heck?! Just a few minutes ago the kid looked like they wanted to stab them, now they were equivalent to an over excited five-year-old.

"Okay, fine you can have more, but only if you promise to tell me more about how you ended up with the Monsters," Frisk bribed and Chara considered for a moment.

"Fine, now give me chocolate!"


	3. Chocolate and Family issues

Chara hadn't tasted chocolate since they'd fallen into the underground about 7 years ago. Sure, monsters had their own version of chocolate, but if there was one thing the humans did right, it was chocolate. Chara couldn't believe this human, as strange as they already appeared to be, would willingly give out chocolate. And this human was really strange, for a number of reasons really, giving out free chocolate not even scratching the surface. First off, they looked remarkably similar to themselves, except a darker skin tone and being shorter. A lot shorter. Part of Chara wondered if the medic was any older than ten. The fact that they kept their eyes closed the entire conversation, but appeared to be able to see them was just plain creepy. To top it all off, they appeared to be sympathetic to the monster cause and didn't seem to mind Chara's red eyes, which (back when they were living with humans) had always just been an excuse for other children and adults to call them a demon.

Chara took a bite of the chocolate bar, savoring the flavor. Chocolate was definitely a sign that there was some kind of higher power. The other human, Frisk, watched, er, faced her. Keeping their eyes closed all the time was seriously starting to freak Chara out. Come on, who does that?

"So, we could begin by how exactly you got into the monster's domain, because as far as I know there was a whole barrier thing surrounding them," Frisk suggested and Chara sighed, swallowing a mouthful of chocolate.

"The barrier was made to keep the monsters in, not to keep humans out, but once you entered the barrier you couldn't leave. It takes the power of seven human souls to break the barrier, honestly I'm not sure how you humans did it. You guys haven't used soul magic in nearly two thousand years," Chara explained, and Frisk frowned, knitting their brows.

"Soul magic?" they asked and Chara rolled their eyes.

"Not important, look the point is that getting into the underground wasn't that hard, I just fell down a hole while I was hiking,"

"You were hiking on Mount Ebbott?" Frisk questioned. Chara shrugged.

"Well, what can I say, I'm a risk taker, and It's not like I was there alone," lie "I was there with some friends on a dare. I just fell," LIE. This was entirely a lie, but Chara wasn't about to tell a complete stranger their life story and problems with their blood relatives. Frisk didn't appear convinced, but didn't press.

"Okay then, so what happened after you fell in?" they asked and Chara swallowed another mouthful of their chocolate bar.

"Well, I did what any 9 year old would do. I screamed for help and said plenty of words my mother would be proud of," Chara muttered sarcastically, and a soft noise came from their companion. It took Chara a moment to realize it was a laugh, the noise was so pure and innocent that Chara resisted the urge to wrap their arms protectively around the other human. No creature they'd ever met, human, monster, or other, laughed with a noise so innocent and pure.

"Not what I meant," Frisk muttered softly, and Chara noticed they were staring instead of replying.

"Yeah, yeah, well that's when my brother found me. Not biological, obviously, but he found me after I fell and took me to his parents. They took me in and showed me more love and cared for me more than anyone I'd ever met." Chara finished, but apparently Frisk was curious, and liked to push the soldier's buttons.

"What were their names?" Frisk asked and Chara glared at them silently.

"None of your concern," they hissed, and Frisk fixed them with their most patient smile, and Chara sighed. "My mom's name is Toriel, my dad's is Asgore, and my brother's…" Chara paused for a moment, swallowing something that tasted foul on the back of their throat, "Asriel."

"Asriel? You mentioned that name earlier. Said something about me reminding you of him," Frisk continued. Chara wondered if the kid could feel the waves of hostility rolling off of them, or if they somehow were oblivious. What if they were doing this on purpose to get Chara riled up? Chara studied the child again. They had a halo of brown curls that was similar to their own, but looked softer and was a darker shade. Their face seemed softer and more kindly. The kid didn't look like they were a spy, but Chara had learned a long time ago that looks could be deceiving.

"You and Asriel had the same nosy complex about budding into my business," she grumbled, and the smile on Frisk's face faded a bit. Some part of Chara immediately went into panic mode. They weren't sure why, they barely knew this Human, and yet here they were trying to keep up a friendly conversation with them. "Also, you both were unnaturally kind to me for no apparent reason." Frisk perked up a little at that.

"I'm not nice for no reason, I'm nice because I like it when other people are happy," Frisk interjected and Chara chuckled drily.

"Good luck with that, Kid, I'm not a happy person," Chara's voice cracked with hidden emotion, Frisk didn't seem to notice.

"Don't call me kid, I'm nearly 16," Frisk complained, and Chara laughed for real.

"Nearly 16? Oh my bad, you old lady, how dare I call you kid. I must always respect my elders," they replied sarcastically. Frisk glared, or Chara imagined you could call it a glare, their eyes were closed so it was a bit harder to read their expression.

"Oh come on, you're probably not much older," they grumbled, and Chara nodded.

"You're right, but at least I'm already 16. Seriously, I know why I'm in this war, but what are the humans doing drafting a 15 year-old?" they asked and Frisk stared at their shoes.

"Actually I was 14 when I was drafter," they murmured quietly, and Chara burst into a roar of laughter.

"14? Wow, you guys must've been really desperate for soldiers!" They choked out after their laughter had died down. Frisk wasn't laughing though, they looked… sad.

"Chara, there are children much younger than me forced to fight and die in this war just because they're parents are bigoted and unaccepting of the Monsters," they said seriously, and Chara felt a slight tinge of guilt, but the kid needed to understand one thing.

"Look Frisk, there's one thing you need to understand about me," Chara began, and leaned their face uncomfortably close to the younger teen's. They wanted the kid to feel their breath on their skin. "I don't care about the humans as a species, you, as an individual have peeked my interest, but that does not change my opinion on the bunch. All humans are terrible, killing machines. Even the young ones." Frisk didn't even flinch.

"That includes you too, Chara." Frisk reminded them, and Chara smiled in that unnaturally creepy way of theirs, lips stretching too far to be humanly possible, and eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

"Now you're getting it," they hissed.


	4. You have nice eyes

Frisk didn't even flinch. Chara was doing the face they remembered could scare grown men into running for their lives, and yet this kid who was younger and smaller than Chara wasn't even flinching.

"You have nice eyes," Frisk responded innocently and Chara's face melted back into its normal state, sputtering for words.

"Wh-What?!" they exclaimed and Frisk smirked, Chara suspected they were trying not to laugh.

"Did you think that would scare me?" they asked and Chara just stared at the younger human, complete disbelief in their eyes.

"Yes!" they yelled and the kid laughed for real. Again, the noise was so pure and innocent that Chara could almost imagine that they weren't in the middle of a war.

"Honestly, it was just really funny, you looked like this," Frisk widened their mouth and stuck their head out, screwing up their nose and making their eyebrows disappear into their bangs, looking utterly ridiculous.

"I did not!" Chara complained, "That face I just made used to make grown men run away from me in fear!"

"Probably in fear of getting barfed on," the medic responded and stood. "I'm going to get you some food, please don't try to lead the tent because either you'll be killed because of your uniform, or you'll collapse before you make it two feet." With that, Frisk was gone, leaving Chara spluttering and staring at the entrance to the tent.

"I'm sorry my Queen, it was too late," The guard said, bowing their head. Queen Toriel couldn't believe it, just like that she had lost both of her children to a war. Ariel and Chara, both dead.

"Did you at least bring back the body?" Asgore asked, trying to mask the distress in his voice. Undyne, the captain of the Royal Guard, shook her head.

"There wasn't enough time sir, we were retreating when they got caught by a grenade." The soldier did a good job of trying to hide it, but Toriel could hear the trembling emotion in her voice. Undyne had spent years coming by the castle while they were still underground. Undyne was almost as much Chara's family as Asriel, and when they had lost Asriel all those months ago Undyne had cried just as much as the rest of the family, although Toriel was sure she would deny that. Now Chara was gone too, and worst of all it had been on Undyne's watch, as far as the soldier was concerned, it was her fault. Asgore bowed his head, as his queen left the room. That night, all the royal family would grieve for the loss of Chara Dreemur.

"What the hell is that!" Chara yelled, staring at the strange white froth Frisk had called 'grits'

"I don't understand what you're complaining about, it's just standard army rations," Frisk said from their perch at the end of the bed, watching as Chara's expression changed from confused to disgusted.

"Army rations?" they asked, "How the hell do you fight on a stomach full of this stuff?" Frisk huffed.

"If you're surprised by this I'd like to see what you guys are eating on the other side," they muttered and Chara glared.

"Well, for starters, actual food," they grumbled. Frisk rolled their eyes. "Second, monster food is different than human food."

"I can imagine, everything over here is freeze dried and salted and just plain disgusting. It's either that or it spoils." Frisk sighed.

"Well that sucks, monster food is made so that it feeds the soul, if you get used to monster food you don't really have to eat for hunger anymore, just to keep your HP up," Chara commented thoughtfully before downing the questionable 'grits.' Frisk frowned.

"HP?" they asked, "and what the heck does 'feed the soul' mean?" Chara laughed softly.

"I keep forgetting you humans haven't had to deal with stuff like that for the last two thousand years. HP stands for HOPE which is how much strength you have left to battle. Monsters bodies are made off of their souls, so instead of having to eat to keep from going hungry they just have to eat to keep their HP 's why when a skeleton eats the food doesn't fall right through them." Chara tried to explain, but more questions just began to swirl around Frisk's mind.

Frisk knit their eyebrows, "You said something about that earlier, something like 'soul magic'? You don't actually mean magic, like wizards and Witches do you?" Frisk asked, but Chara didn't appear to understand the disbelief in the child's voice. They just nodded, like this should be obvious.

"Yes, I mean magic, it's kind of hard to explain, but humans and monsters both have magic, humans have just forgotten about it. Monsters on the other hand continue to thrive with magic as their source." Chara was examining the bandages around their left arm, as Frisk attempted to wrap their head around that.

Magic, was real apparently, and both humans and monsters had it, well that did solve some questions for Frisk. If monsters had magic, that could've been why humans sealed them underground in the first place, they were scared of the monsters' power. Frisk shoved that aside, heal patient now, solve questions about the universe later.

"Okay, moving on, you should probably get some rest, because we're going to have to sneak out of here soon and get you back to your camp," frisk mumbled and reached into their bag for a blanket, Chara blinked.

"Wait What?!" they asked and sat up, wincing as they did so. Chara tried to ignore their swimming vision and the black spots dancing in front of their eyes. Frisk grabbed Chara by the shoulders and lay them back.

"I'm taking you back, you're injured and not on this side of the war. I don't want you to get caught, so I'm taking you back to your camp, wherever it is," Frisk answered, but Chara shook their head.

"If you think I'm just going to tell some random human I just met where my base is, you've got the wrong idea!" they growled, trying to push Frisk away, but their attempts were weak from exhaustion. Frisk sighed.

"It doesn't matter if you tell me or not, I already know where it is," they whispered and Chara stopped struggling.

"You, What?!" Chara yelled and Frisk sighed.

"You aren't the first person I've pulled from the wreckage of something that wasn't on our side. I've found, healed, and returned about two dozen monsters to your camps by now. I don't like seeing anyone hurt, especially people that are so kind and peaceful." Frisk explained, and Chara just stared at them.

"You mean to tell me that you've been rescuing my kind all during this war, and that you haven't told a single soul where the camp is?" they hissed and Frisk nodded.

"No one. I'm the only human who knows, and it's going to remain that way," Frisk's face was firm, planted, determined. Chara knew that all humans had determination, but as far as they had figured having the main trait of Determination was exceptionally rare. If this kid had the same trait, that basically set in stone they were meant to meet.

"Why should I trust you, give me one good reason," Chara demanded and Frisk smiled sadly.

"When I was born both of my parents died, my mom during childbirth, and my father of a broken heart. I spent my life moving from foster home, to foster home, and in every single one I met different people. Some were kind, but the majority were not. Sometimes I was happy, most of the time I was scared, lost, broken, and depressed. I've seen both sides of humanity and firmly believe that every person is like a coin. Both humans and monsters, you've just spent too long looking at the darkside. I will flip the coin until I get the lighter side, no one is inherently evil, not even you. Trust me, because I trust you." Frisk said, Chara blinked. What kind of person was just so upfront about everything? What kind of person just spilled their entire lives in front of you without a second thought? This kid was either the bravest person they'd ever met, or the most stupid, and honestly, It's really hard to not trust someone who would willingly admit that they had spent a portion of their life in depression.

Chara sighed in defeat, "I trust you," they whispered, and Frisk smiled. That smile alone could outshine the sun. They smiled weakly and Frisk placed a blanket over them, tucking Chara in like Toriel used to when they were young.

"Goodnight Chara," Frisk said and sat down in a chair across the tent, pulling out a book from the floor. Chara felt their lips curling into a smile with their own will.

"Night 'kid," they muttered, and closed their eyes.


	5. memories are just nightmares in disguise

The room was dark, but Chara still knew whose it was. The stench of alcohol wafting through the doorway. No, please. Not here. Not here again. Unfortunately, that's not how the world works. There was the unmistakable sound of clumsy footsteps as the door burst open. Light filled the room, spilling over decaying carpet and half eaten blankets. It touched Chara's skin, no longer milky pale from years underground, but black and blue from previous nights. Chara couldn't believe it, they were back here. Back in this hell-hole.

"Demon child, what kind of kid sits in the dark, jus staring at the door!" a voice slurred and in stumbled a broom-stick of a woman. She was tall and skinny, covered in a loud blue and yellow dress with big green pearls. Her hair was wiry and stuck out in all directions like it was attempting to escape from her head. She stumbled forward and grabbed Chara by the neck.

"The devil sent you to me to test my faith, did he not?!" she snarled in a voice dripping with venom, eyes as dark as the dead of night.

"I-I'm not a demon!" Chara choked out, voice trembling and dying in a way that was all too childish, but then again that's all Chara was. A child. A child with glowing red eyes, a child who was the spawn of satan himself. At least that's what all the other humans said.

"Don't lie to me child!" the woman roared and shook Chara, squeezing their neck tighter. Chara choked and clawed at their neck.

"Sh-Shut u-up!" they coughed out and wriggled as their vision swam with black dots.

"Demon!" the woman snarled and smashed Chara against the wall, "Demon!" the woman repeated and again they made contact with the wall. The process continued until the world went black.

Chara sat bolt upright, sweat pouring from their brow. Heart racing a million miles an hour.

"C-Chara?" a voice whispered and the teen whipped around at the speed of sound, there stood Asriel, just as they remembered him. Soft white fur, big oaken eyes, gentle features, hole through his chest.

"Asriel!" Chara shouted and ran to him, but found their feet stuck to the ground, they looked down only to find themselves buried knee deep in a thick red liquid. Asriel stood a few feet away, already crumbling into the red froth.

"Wh-Why?" he asked as he crumbled, "Why did you let this happen?!" he shouted as his face began to crumble.

"Asriel!" Chara shouted and tried to launch themselves forward, fear pounding through them, but the red liquid held them, now up to their waist.

"Why did you let me die?!" he whispered as he was left nothing more than dust.

"No!" Chara shouted too last did they realize they should've held their breath, the red liquid was rising, and it rose to bury Chara in it. Rose to drown Chara in their own blood.

"Chara! Chara!" a voice whispered urgently in the soldier's ear and they sat up at the speed of light, smacking their skull right into that of Frisk.

"Ow," They muttered rubbing their forehead, "What the heck were you doing leaning over me like that?!" Chara barked and glared at the younger human. Frisk looked worried.

"You were crying in your sleep, a-and then you started screaming, a-and… and then you stopped breathing.." Frisk stuttered out, sounding just as shaken up as Chara felt, but they weren't about to let some kid see past their armor. They huffed.

"I'm fine," they growled and tried to stand, but their legs only shook and gave out again, Frisk was there in a flash, and setting them back down in the bed, like they were a small child. How this kid was strong enough to carry a teen who was so much taller than themselves puzzled Chara, or maybe they were just trying not to think about the nightmare. Asriel. Chara felt an involuntary tear slip down their cheek and rushed to wipe it, praying Frisk hadn't seen it.

"You most definitely are not fine," Frisk muttered and placed a hand on their forehead.

"Hey!" Chara protested, but almost immediately froze when Frisk touched their forehead. Frisk's hand was like ice, and it chilled Chara to the bone just from the short contact. Frisk's eyebrows did their disappearing act into the child's bangs.

"You're burning up, must be an infection," they muttered and ran out the tent flap before Chara could even ask what the heck an infection was. Frisk came charging back in not a full minute later, holding a bucket and rag. They set the bucket down next to Chara's cot and placed the rag on their head. It was so cold it stung against Chara's skin. They hissed and batted the rag away, but Frisk just put it back.

"What the hell are you doing?! Trying to freeze me to death?!" Chara complained and Frisk shook their head.

"You have a fever, I'm trying to keep it from getting too high and causing brain damage," they muttered and Chara just gave the medic a weird look.

"Temperature can cause brain damage?" Chara asked and Frisk blinked.

"Yeah, if your head gets too hot it can cause brain cells to disintegrate," they said, sounding as if they were confused.

"Oh, also, what the heck in an infection?" Chara asked and Frisk just stared at them for a solid thirty seconds.

"You know almost nothing about human anatomy, do you?" they asked and Chara shook their head.

"Not a clue." they answered and Frisk chuckled lightly.

"Well, put simply an infection is when bad stuff gets in your wounds, it can make you very sick," they explained, and Chara got the impression they were resisting the urge to burst out laughing, and they glared at the kid.

"Don't act like I'm an idiot, it's not my fault that I was raised by monsters who know even less about human anatomy than I do. I had to explain to them what the heck blood was, and they think it's weird that humans have a red 'life liquid' that must be kept in them at all times," Chara burst out, and Frisk couldn't hold back their laughter anymore.

"Life liquid?" they choked out between laughs, and Chara glared.

"Yes, 'life liquid'" they growled and Frisk swallowed another round of laughter.

"I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't laugh," they whispered and wiped a tear from their eye, "I-It's just. How much do you know about human anatomy?" they asked and Chara's face flushed, not just from the fever.

"Thrdgrdscnnnsecss" they mumbled and Frisk blinked.

"What?" they asked and Chara's face turned a brighter shade of red.

"Third-grade science class!" they burst and Frisk stared at them, er, faced them for a moment, appearing stunned.

"How old were you when you fell into the underground?" they asked and Chara huffed.

"Nine, did you think I was joking?" they mumbled, and maybe it was the fever making them feel dizzy, or maybe it was the look of sheer empathy, not pity, but understanding on Frisk's face; Chara felt their guard slipping down.

"I thought you were exaggerating," Frisk mumbled and placed a hand on Chara's cheek, their hand still felt like ice on Chara's skin, but they flinched less this time.

"Your fever is getting worse, you should try and rest," they advised, and the thought of more nightmares was enough to ensure that Chara would be awake all night.

"No way, I am not having any more of those nightmares," they meant to whisper to themselves, but Frisk heard and frowned.

"Trust me, I get nightmares too, but you still have to sleep, or your fever will just get worse." they tried to reassure, and Chara huffed.

"Your 'nightmares' are nothing like mine, that I can assure you," they snarled in the medic's face, but again was struck with the realization that Frisk didn't even flinch.

"Are they? Tell me Chara, do you ever dream of the whole world chanting you are a demon? Do you dream of those who you need support from destroying you? Do you dream of tearing yourself apart from the inside out? Do you dream of ending it all for yourself?" they asked and Chara stared at the child. That sounded hauntingly similar to their dreams, so much so they felt themselves inching backward on the cot.

"How did you get all of that from me saying I had nightmares, and a little crying in my sleep?" they asked, and the Medic's face darkened.

"I didn't, that's what I dream of," they whispered and tucked Chara in. "Rest,"


	6. it all began with an angry carrot

Frisk watched as the sun slowly rose on the horizon, a sigh escaping their lips. They cast a glance backwards at Chara, who was sound asleep in their cot. Another person with nightmares as bad as their own? That really shouldn't have surprised Frisk, not everyone had red eyes, but those who did knew the pain. The pain of everyone in the world assuming you are the spawn of Satan. Frisk knew that pain first hand, hence the reason they always kept their eyes closed, but Chara, Chara seemed to have had it worse than Frisk. Frisk no longer woke up screaming in the middle of the night, Chara apparently did. That worried Frisk, because if Chara couldn't be quiet for the next couple of minutes, then they'd both be caught, and both suffer the consequences.

"Chara," they whispered and gently shook the soldier awake. Chara groaned and pulled the covers over themselves, as if to ward Frisk off.

"Later," they mumbled and Frisk inwardly rolled their eyes. They tugged the covers off and started to shake Chara again.

"Not Later, now!" they hissed and Chara groaned, hiding under the pillow.

"Leave me alone Asriel!" they complained sleepily and Frisk froze. That name again. Chara kept confusing Frisk for their adopted brother, and Frisk honestly didn't know whether to be flattered or a little sad.

"Chara, if you don't get up we're going to be stuck here for another couple days," Frisk growled and got the response of Chara throwing a pillow at their face. "Seriously?" was their muffled reply.

"Yes," Chara mumbled and pulled the blanket back over their body and attempting to go back to sleep. Frisk sighed.

"Okay, I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice," Frisk muttered and leaned down, picking Chara up and throwing them over their shoulder in a fireman's carry, the soldier's forehead burned against Frisk's back, still hot with fever. Another reason to get the kid back to the monster camp where they had better medical supplies, or something.

"Hey! Put me down!" Chara complained and started to kick in Frisk's hold, but the smaller human was stronger and shifted Chara into a bridal carry.

"Is this better?" Frisk asked, letting their eyelids slide closed, so that the other human (who was now awake) couldn't see their eyes. Still, Frisk could feel Chara glaring at them.

"Put me down, I'm awake already!" Chara hissed, and Frisk laughed before carefully setting the soldier down. Chara brushed themselves off as if Frisk might've somehow infected them with their touch. Frisk did not take offense.

"Great, now let's get going," Frisk said and pulled their bag over their shoulders.

"Are you positive you know where the camp is?!" Chara whined as they continued walking,

Frisk rolled their eyes.

"Yes Chara, it's about three days travel from where we were," Frisk said patiently, but Chara was not a patient person.

"Three days?! I don't think we're thinking of the same camp," Chara growled, ignoring the pain shooting up their legs with every step. Frisk had told them to tell them if they started to feel pain in their legs or felt like they were going to collapse, so of course Chara had not notified Frisk that it felt like they were walking on broken glass.

"Well, the camp I'm taking you has two skeletons in charge of it," Frisk said and Chara instantly groaned.

"Of all the camps, that one?!" they wined and Frisk sighed.

"Well, if you'd like to tell me where the one you're from is I'd gladly take you there," Frisk suggested, and Chara finally went quiet. "Didn't think so," Frisk finished.

They kept walking for what felt like eternity, and Chara kept ignoring the pain running up and down their spine, ignored the spots dancing in front of their vision, ignored the ringing in their ears until they felt like they were going to collapse.

"Jus-Just give me a minute," Chara mumbled to Frisk before stumbling to a tree and leaning against it for support. Frisk dropped down next to them and wordlessly offered a bottle of water. Chara took it without thanks and gulped down the water greedily.

"We should rest here for a while, it's been a hours," Frisk suggested, and Chara resisted the urge to agree and lay down.

"I'm fine, let's just keep going," they growled and tried to stand, almost instantly their legs gave out, and Frisk was already there to catch them.

"You're not fine, you're injured and sick. I don't care if it hurts your pride to admit this, but you need my help, so please accept it. If you keep pushing yourself like just now you'll get yourself killed before we even reach your camp," Frisk said quietly and Chara growled.

"I don't need your help!" they growled, "I don't want your help, I need to get home, and I can do that either with or without your help!" Frisk just shook their head and sighed.

"Chara-" they didn't get to finish their sentence as the clearing exploded with vegetables. Frisk and Chara both went sprawling.

"What the heck?" Frisk yelled and sat up as Vegemite snarled from the other side of the clearing. Chara just lay there, pinned to the ground by a pile of carrots and broccoli. Yes, Chara was so injured that they couldn't even dig their way out of a pile of healthy food. Great. Frisk on the other hand now stood facing what looked like a carrot with teeth.

"Uh, hi Mister…" Frisk trailed off, not knowing what to say to a strange carrot monster. Mister carrot growled at them.

"Part of a delicious and healthy meal," it hissed and Frisk watched in surprise and mild horror as their soul was pulled out of their body. Frisk wasn't quite sure how they knew it was their soul, but they did, and it glowed bright red like it was on fire. The carrot paused momentarily, as if the soul surprised them too, but then started hurling vegetables at it. Frisk yelped as they made contact with the soul, and tried as best as they could to dodge, but felt pain racing through their body as soon as their turn was over. Vegemite stared at them, as if waiting for an attack, but Frisk just slowly stood up.

"H-Hey, er," they began, but heard Chara's voice from somewhere off to the side.

"It's called a Vegemite!"

"Okay, uh Vegemite, I don't mean to be rude, but I think this was all just a misunderstanding," Frisk started, but vegemite just growled again and next thing Frisk knew more vegetables were being hurled at their soul. Suddenly the sound of glass shattering came and everything washed black.

Light slowly slid past Frisk's eyelids and they sat up, to discover that they lay in the clearing again, apparently only moments before vegemite had attacked, and that Chara was staring at them like they had sprouted a third head.

"Did-did you just?" they spluttered out, but Frisk had both hands pressed over their chest and was breathing heavily.

"What the actual heck just happened?!" Frisk whispered and Chara just kept staring at them.

"You… reset…" Chara whispered and Frisk turned to face them.

"What the heck does that mean?" they asked and Chara just shook their head.

"I can't believe it, this whole time I thought I was the only one who could do that, but no. You show up and bam, you can too. What the hell?!" Frisk just blinked the confusion out of their closed eyes.

"Chara, what does 'reset' mean?" they asked and Chara seemed to remember they were there.

"It means you died, and then rewound time so that you didn't," Frisk stared at them for a moment.

"What."

"I'm serious, look, Vegemite will be here in like thr-" the clearing exploded with vegetables. It was exactly the same as last time, the same attack even, Frisk had time to dodge this time though, even though it was really strange that their very soul was floating outside of their body at this moment.

"Look, Vegemite, I don't want to fight you!" Frisk said and the carrot looked surprised, so much so that it even forgot to attack. Frisk carefully approached the carrot, realising now that the monster just looked scared, and hurt. Not angry. "Please, just let me help you, you're hurt," they offered and the Carrot stared at them for a moment, as if considering. Frisk smiled patiently. Vegetables rained down on their soul. Shatter, wake up. It continued like that for another ten times, each time Frisk refused to fight, and instead offered assistance.

Chara couldn't believe their own eyes, every single time, the human just wouldn't hurt the monster, even when Chara urged if they didn't they'd be stuck there fighting it forever. Frisk just shook their head, and told them they had promised that they would never hurt a single creature. Finally, around the twentieth reset, Vegemite accepted Frisk's help. Frisk just smiled, like the stupid carrot had never killed them, and carefully bandaged the monster before releasing it. It left Frisk in peace, who was soaked through their clothes in sweat and so low on HP Chara was surprised they hadn't reset already. Frisk huffed and fell down beside them, their soul settled back into their body.

"Uuuuuuuuuugggghhhhh…" Frisk groaned and Chara was silent. No human, not even themselves had ever been so.. So… kind. Even Chara lost their temper occasionally and killed a monster, but Frisk, no. If Chara had been the one fighting Vegemite they would've snapped around the fifth time and just killed the darn thing, but Frisk… Frisk was patient enough to try again. Kind enough not to hold a grudge. Just… so… different. Different enough to spare the creature. Chara couldn't understand how.

"Chara," Frisk groaned and Chara snapped out of their thoughts.

"What?" they asked, and were surprised themselves that they couldn't hear bitterness in their voice

"Wh-What on earth did I just do?!" they whispered and Chara shrugged.

"Well, you died like twenty times all because you refused to kill a carrot." Chara muttered and Frisk groaned.

"I meant, why did my soul, come out of my body?!" they asked and Chara sighed.

"That, is what I call soul magic. You, my friend, have a soul with the main trait of determination, meaning you reset time when you die, and try again. Your soul came out of your body because when Monsters fight one on one with a human they aim for your soul, which is the fastest way to kill you." Chara explained and Frisk just groaned again.

"Is that why I feel like I was just thrown through a paper shredder?" they said, muffled by their arm.

"Yes," Chara responded, and Frisk groaned again, louder this time. Chara sighed, and slowly stood, their legs wobbled under their weight, but didn't give out this time.

"We might as well get some rest, you aren't going anywhere for a while," Chara muttered, ignoring the fact that they weren't in any condition to travel either. Frisk slowly pulled themselves upright and Yanked their bag close. They handed Chara an energy bar and devoured the other. Apparently 'devour' was the right word, because right at that moment, a curtain of green vegetables came tumbling down on Frisk. Frisk yelped, probably expecting to die again, but instead their HP healed, but Chara was pretty sure Frisk didn't know what that meant. What Frisk did know, was that they no longer felt like they were just seconds away from splitting apart. They caught a glimpse of the retreating Vegemite and called out a thank you.

Chara tried to ignore the feelings of admiration, or the sense that maybe this kid wasn't so bad. So what, they didn't want to hurt a monster, didn't mean that they wouldn't in the future. Still, something inside of Chara had changed in emotion toward the younger human? What was it? Respect? Maybe, but no, it felt deeper than that. Chara couldn't name the emotion, but they knew it made their insides crawl whenever the Human smiled, or when they laughed. Especially when the smile or laugh was directed at them, whatever it was, Chara couldn't dwell on it. In a few days Chara would be home, and they'd never have to speak to Frisk again. For some reason that made them feel sad.


End file.
